From sheep detectives to zombie Tasmania: the wildest movies in cinemas in 2026

Cinema-goers can also expect more Minions, more Mortal Kombat and more Spider-Man plus reassembled Avengers and a Hunger Games prequel. There's a live-action re-do of animated Disney favourite Moana, a butt-kicking Supergirl spinoff from last year's hit Superman reboot and Ariana Grande joining Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro in Focker-In-Law.

Toymaker Mattel hopes for a Barbie-sized success with superhero franchise potential in Masters Of The Universe starring Jared Leto as skull-faced baddie Skeletor.

Grand old tales get elaborate makeovers too, including Christopher Nolan's epic retelling of The Odyssey, Margot Robbie in a saucy Wuthering Heights, a new-generation Sense and Sensibility for the Jane Austen crowd and ex-Jack Sparrow Johnny Depp haunting next Christmas in Ebenezer.

Promising originals among the sequels, prequels, spin-offs and remakes include a zombie thriller set in Tasmania, a Flying High-style spoof of Downton Abbey, a new Steven Spielberg alien encounter and the unlikely pairing of Tom Cruise and acclaimed Birdman and The Revenant director Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu.

Here's a guide to what's coming in 2026.

Paul Mescal (Gladiator II) and Jessie Buckley (Wicked Little Letters) are William and Agnes Shakespeare grappling with grief after losing their son to the plague. Opens January 15.

Timothée Chalamet plays a 1950s New Yorker who dreams of table-tennis stardom. Also stars Gwyneth Paltrow. Opens January 22.

A 15-year-old non-binary kid drowning in the endless noise of the attention economy slips through a rip in their bedroom wall for an eye-opening multi-dimensional journey with a sarcastic alien dog named Jeff. "This film is a love letter to human kind," co-writer-director Jack Manning Bancroft says of his genre-bending animation, a global creative collaboration drawing on First Nations knowledge. Taika Waititi and Ian Thorpe lend their voices. Screens January 26 - for one day only.

Writer-director Zak Hilditch gives us a zombie apocalypse in Tasmania, with Daisy Ridley (from Star Wars: The Force Awakens) searching for her missing husband after a high-casualty military mishap kills most of the population. Except, of course, not all of the dead stay dead. Brenton Thwaites and Mark Coles Smith also star. Opens February 5.

This ain't your gran's bodice-ripping romance. Emerald Fennell (Saltburn) adapts Emily Bronte's novel, with Aussies Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi steaming up the screen and Charli XCX on the soundtrack. Opens February 12.

Co-written by comedian Jimmy Carr, this Downton Abbey spoof stars Damian Lewis, Jojo Rabbit's Thomasin McKenzie and ex-Draco Malfoy Tom Felton. Opens February 19.

A murdered woman (Jessie Buckley) is brought back to life in 1930s Chicago. Maggie Gyllenhaal directs. Christian Bale, Jake Gyllenhaal and Penélope Cruz also star. Opens March 5

Science teacher Ryan Gosling wakes up on a spaceship having been dragooned into a mission to stop the sun from dying. Opens March 19.

Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls) stars in this adaptation of the Enid Blyton books about children exploring magical lands. Adapted for the screen by Simon Farnaby (Wonka, Paddington 2), it also stars Jennifer Saunders and Michael Palin. Opens March 26.

The inevitable sequel to 2023's blockbuster animated romp adapts one of Nintendo's most popular Mario games. Jack Black and Chris Pratt lead the voice cast again. Opens April 1.

Engaged couple Robert Pattinson and Zendaya face unexpected revelations in the days leading up to their wedding. Opens April 2.

Rebel Wilson's directorial debut is a feel-good musical comedy about country town teens attending a debutante ball.

Shot in Carcoar in the NSW Central West in 2023, the film has made headlines over a legal dispute. Opens April 9.

Jaafar Jackson plays his uncle Michael Jackson in this biopic tracing his journey from the Jackson 5 to solo artist and global superstar. Opens April 23.

Meryl Streep's fashion diva returns, with Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt also back. Opens April 30.

Hugh Jackman's shepherd reads murder mysteries aloud to his sheep. When he dies, his flock investigates the suspicious circumstances.

The voice cast includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Patrick Stewart and Emma Thompson. Opens May 7.

Pedro Pascal's helmeted bounty hunter escorts Jedi-powered Grogu - aka baby Yoda - across a certain galaxy far, far away. The movie is a spin-off from the popular Disney+ series The Mandalorian. Opens May 22.

Will Mattel's new movie based on its beloved cartoon and toys be a Barbie-sized hit? Will He-Man finally make the leap to blockbuster movie franchise? Nicholas Galitzine play Prince Adam and Jared Leto plays the villainous Skeletor. Opens June 4.

Steven Spielberg's new film is shrouded in mystery, its teaser trailer hinting at a scary alien encounter. Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor and Colin Firth star. Opens June 11.

Pixar pits toys Woody, Buzz and Jessie against a new playtime threat: a digital tablet. Opens June 18.

This spin-off from James Gunn's hit Superman reboot has Australia's Milly Alcock in the red cape and boots as Supergirl, saving the day with her dog Krypto. Aussie Craig Gillespie (who did Margot Robbie's I, Tonya) directs. Opens June 26.

After two animated hits, Disney gets real with a live-action version of its Polynesian princess adventure. Australian teenager Catherine Laga'aia, daughter of Play School regular Jay Laga'aia, plays Moana. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson reprises his role. Opens July 9.

Christopher Nolan's adaptation of the ancient Greek epic follows Odysseus, king of Ithaca, as he embarks on a journey home following the Trojan War. Matt Damon is joined by Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya and Lupita Nyong'o. Opens July 16.

Tom Holland's friendly neighbourhood web-slinger Peter Parker teams with an unlikely ally. Zendaya again plays MJ. Opens July 30.

In Ridley Scott's apocalyptic thriller, civilian pilot Jacob Elordi and ex-marine Josh Brolin survive a flu virus that has almost eradicated humanity. Guy Pearce also stars. Opens in August.

Daisy Edgar-Jones, star of Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing and Twisters, plays Elinor Dashwood, one of Jane Austen's most beloved heroines. Opens in September.

Aaron Sorkin returns to The Social Network 16 years later with this companion film starring Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White as young engineer Frances Haugen and Wall Street reporter Jeff Horowitz who blow the whistle on Facebook's most guarded secrets. Jeremy Strong (from TV's Succession) plays Mark Zuckerberg. Opens in October.

Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett star in this adaptation of Colleen Hoover's psycho drama about a struggling writer who discovers a manuscript that reveals a famous author's dark secrets. Opens in October.

Tom Cruise stars in Birdman director Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu's first English-language film since The Revenant. It's billed as "a comedy of catastrophic proportions". Opens in October.

This prequel to the original Hunger Games trilogy follows a young Haymitch Abernathy and stars Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin and Elle Fanning. Opens in November.

Family feud fun with Ariana Grande-v-Ben Stiller-v-Robert De Niro. Opens in November.

Johnny Depp is Scrooge in this Charles Dickens Christmas ghost story also starring ex-Ron Weasley Rupert Grint. Opens in November.

The Avengers assemble again, including Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Paul Rudd's Ant-Man. Captain America Chris Evans also returns but Robert Downey Jr swaps his Iron Man suit to play supervillain Doctor Doom. Opens in December.

The final installment of Denis Villeneuve's epic sci-fi saga has Robert Pattinson and Nakoa-Wolf Momoa (Jason Momoa's son, making his acting debut) joining Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Josh Brolin and Momoa. Opens in December.

In Aussie filmmaker Zoe Pepper's dark satirical comedy a young man and his pregnant wife are forced to move back in with his parents, whose resentment turns disturbingly toxic. It's billed as a twisted family tale exploring generational inequality between Boomers and Millennials. Pepper has said of her film, which had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival in New York: "We were raised to believe that hard work would be rewarded with a home and stability. But the rules have changed. This story channels my fears, and the satire that comes with them". Opens in 2026.